Track-bolt wrench



R. J McKEE. TRACK BOLT WRE NCH.; APPLICATION FILED AUG-1Q, 1921.

1,437,602, Patented Dec. 5, 1922'.

now [it] ante RALPH a. IVIoKEE, or 'ciarcaeo/rrmrnors, Assrenon r onroaeo MANUFACTURING a nIs'rnInurInecotrrnnr, or cnroaeo, ILLINOIS, a conronarron or ILLINOIS.

j TRACK-BOLT WRENCH.

Application filed August 10, 1921. Serial No. 491,190,

To all whom a may concern: 1

Be it known that I, RALrI-r J. Molina, a

(citizen of the United States, resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Bolt Wrenches, of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a partthereof. i

The invention relates to wrenches and has for its object to provideapparatus of special utility for turning the nutsupon rail: way track bolts. Vt hile ratchet wrenches are well known and are in common use for many purposes, the, horizontal position of track bolts and the location of the'nut bev tween the head and flange of the trail have a made it so di'llicult to maintain the socket of a ratchet wrench in engagement with the nut that the use of these wrenches in railway track construction and repair I'work has heretofore been quite impractical. The

turning of the nuts upon track bolts hasaccordingly been accomplished with a plain wrench. As such a wrench mustbe re-engaged with the nut after each movement and as the wrench must be ofa convenient length for use by the workman when in a standing position, the turning of these nuts is a laborious and costly operation.

The invention accordingly contemplates apparatus to permit the use of a ratchet wrench upon track bolts, one form of the apparatus being illustrated in the accompanyinn drawings, in which l p Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing a de. tail of railway track with the improved wrench apparatus inservice position there,

of the parts of the apparatus, and.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line S8 of Fig. 1.

1n carrying out the invention a ratchet wrench of any well known type of construction may be used. That illustrated in the drawing has a socketed handle 11 and a head generally designated 12, the said head comprising a pair of side plates 13, 1st, and a transverse rotating barrel 15. As usual, the two end portions of the barrel '15 are journaled in and project through the side plates 13, 14, while the central portion of the barrel takes the form of a ratchet hub 16,1ocated between theplates. A spring l in'. 2 is perspective view sl'lowin one 19 of the wrench socket 18.

pawl 17 is also located between the side" plates 13, 14, for cooperation with the ratchet hub 16 to cause the barrel to turn with the handle 11 in one direction, while permitting the handle to move independently of the barrel in the oppositecdirection.

The said ratchet wrench. preferably also includes a socket 18 for application to the nut, as 20, to be turned and this socket has the usual angular stem 19 for entering the barrel 15. hen the wrench head 12 is con- ;structed with only a singlepawl 17, as

shown, the barrel 15 and thestem 19 of socket 18 are desirably so formed as to permit the stem 19 to enter the barrel 15 from either-end of the same. It follows that by the application of the socket 18 to the oppobe used 'for turning the nut, as 20, in either direction. I I

To permit the use of the wrench upon track bolts, the socket 18 will be formed of the proper size to receive the nut- 20 of the track bolt and at thesame time enter the space between the head 21 andthe flange 22 of the'eommon T-rail, as 23. Since the socket 18 always projects at one side of the wrench head 12, the handle 1]. of the wrench will clear the adjacent side of the head '21 of the rail. a

Owing to the horizontal position of the track bolt, as 241-, and therequirement that sitesides of the wrench,-the wrench may the workman may use both hands for swinging the wrench handle, as 11, it is not only desirable to prevent adisengagement of the wrench socket 18 from the nut, but provision should also be made for preventing backward n'iovementof the bolt 241 especially during the early part of the operation of turning up the nut. ;This latter feature is of importance in preventing the bolt, as 2 1, from turning with the nut. To this end, a

spring frame, generally designated 25, is

frame 25 from the corresponding parts, one end of the spring rod from which the frame is formed is bent to form an upright eye 30. which {its over the rounded head 26 ot th bolt while the other end of the rod is bent to form a horizontal eye 31 of smaller size for entering the bore of the stem 19 of the wrench socket. It follows that when the wrench socket 18 has been applied to the nut, as 20, and the spring frame 25 has been fitted over the rail with the two eyes 30 and 31 at its opposite ends engaged with the head 26 of the bolt and with the stem 19 of the wrench socket, the wrench handle 11 may be manipulated to turn the nut until it is completely tightened or completely unscrewed from the bolt without danger out the wrench socket becoming disengaged from the nut or the bolt turning with the nut.

As there is no requirement for reengaging the wrench with the nut after each move ment, the handle 11 of the wrench may be operated through a greater angle, at each stroke, than is the case when a plain wrench is used and no QXGltlOIl on the part of the workman is required for any other purpose than turning the nut 20. For convenience in applying and removing the spring frame 25 and insuring its effectiveness in service, the yoke 27 is preferably formed of such a size that it fits quite loosely over the head 21. of the rail, accidental disengagement of the yoke from the railhead being prevented by forming a part 32 of the frame adjacent the yoke of slightly less width than the width of the rail head. The part 32 of the frame must accordingly be elastically expanded in applying the frame to the rail and in removing it therefrom. Itwill also facilitate the operation, if the handle 11 of the wrench is only ofsuch length as is necessary for turning the nut 20 when it moves quite freely upon the bolt. The wrench handle may then be manipulated quite rapidly during this. part of the operation and when greater power is required for turning the nut the handle 11 inay be lengthened by the insertion of an extension 33, into the handle socket, as 34.

I claim as my invention:

1. A track bolt wrench comprising, in combination, a wrench 's'ocket having a tubular stem, the socket being constructed for application to the nut of a track bolt which extends through the web of a T-rail, a frame having an intermediate spring yoke for embracing the rail head at a distance from the bolt and a pair of spring arms extending from the yoke along opposite sides of the rail to the bolt, one of the arms pressing inwardly on the bolt head, and the other arm having its end bent to form a rounded eye for entering the bore of the stem of the wrench socket for pressing the same inwardly, and means for turning the wrench socket.

2. A track bolt wrench comprising, in combination, a wrench socket having a tubular stem, a spring clamp having one of its arms rounded at its end to form an eye which enters the bore of the stem of the socket at its outer end, the other arm being engaged with the headoit a bolt, the nut 01": which is entered in the wrench socket, and ratchet means engaged with the stem of the wrench socket for turning the socket.

3. A track bolt wrench comprising, in combination, a wrench socket having a tubular stem, a spring clamp having two arms each bent at its end to form a rounded eye,

one eye being upright and adapted to fit over the rounded head of a bolt, the nut of which is entered in the wrench socket, and the other eye being adapted to enter the bore of the stem of the wrench socket for swiveled engagementtherewith, and ratchet means for turning the wrench socket.

4t. A track bolt wrench comprising, in

combination, a wrench socket having a stem,

the socket being constructed "for application to the nut of a track bolt extending through the web of a Trail, a frame having an intermediate upright spring yoke for yieldingly gripping the rail head at a distance from the bolt and a pair of spring arms ex tending horizontally from the yoke along opposite sides of thera'il to the bolt,-one of the 'arms engaging the head of the bolt and the other arm engaging the outer end of "the stem of the wrench socket and a ratchet lever applied to the stem of the Wrench socket.

RALPH J. :MGKEE. 

